The Beginning is The End is The Beginning
by Sandpiper
Summary: What if James had caught up with Bella while she was still at Charlie's house? It begins the course of a new life for the Cullens, Bella, and her family. Bella/Edward, later Bella/Carlisle, and other non-canon pairings.
1. Part I: Sweet Raptured Light

This is going to be a long one combining several ideas I've had over time. Also, for anyone wondering about Ardor, that one is still going just very slowly. I'm in the process of revamping it so that it'll be better, and then, hopefully, updates will become more frequent.

Charlie POV

"Bella, wait a minute!" I called after my daughter as she stormed toward the front door, "I promise things will get better...we'll spend more time together."

She stopped but did not turn around, "You mean like watching tv, or eating at The Lodge? I have to go. I can't stay here and end up stuck in Forks."

Her words were like deja vu of when her mother said the same ones to me years ago. Before I could come up with a response, she reached for the door. Her hand barely touched it before a crash echoed through the house. It took me a second before I registered the door clattering to the floor right off it's hinges, and a dangerous looking young man holding my daughter up by the front of her jacket.

He said something to her, but I did not hear what. I was already rushing to the kitchen drawer where I kept my side arm. I grabbed it just as another loud crash and sound of breaking glass came from the living room.

I turned in time to see Bella crumpled on the floor right below where her feet had been dangling a second ago.

"Bella, run!" A voice broke through the noise. I looked up and found it was the Cullen boy. He was holding the long haired blond against the far side of the living-room wall.

Bella scrambled to her feet and started toward the gap where the front door had been moments ago, when out of nowhere a red-haired woman appeared in her path, "Yes, run little girl."

I raised by gun and aimed carefully past Bella, "Don't move! Stay right where you are!"

The woman looked over Bella's shoulder at me. There was another deafening crash from the living-room, but I couldn't look to see what it was. I couldn't even afford to take my sight off the woman when she shoved Bella into the wall, because she began stalking straight toward me.

"Don't move!" I ordered again. She paid me no attention. I fired two shots directly at her chest. I barely registered seeing them ricochet off before I felt my gun violently wrenched from my hand, and sensation of flying through the air.

My back screamed as I bounced to the ground, and I was instantly hit by a brick wall. The pain was like nothing I'd ever felt before, it felt like I was being run over by a train and ripped apart by wolves at the same time.

I did not even realize that something had changed until I could no longer see the woman's orange hair in my face. I could not see anything after that. I just felt the excruciating pain and heard someone screaming.

Bella.

It hurt to move or even blink, but I forced myself to turn my head until I could see by daughter. She was laying next to me on the floor. I tried to reach out to her by the pain was too much, my arms refused to move.

I slowly registered the voices of people around me, "-emember who you are. See to Bella, your brothers will take care of this."

I looked up and made out Carlisle Cullen turning his son toward Bella as his other two boys hauled the blond man away by the arms.

Cullen and his son knelt down next to Bella, and were quickly joined by a short haired girl I knew to be his younger daughter. At his instruction she took off her belt, which he used to tie around Bella's leg.

I did not see what happened to cause it but I heard Cullen's daughter moan, before leaping up and running over to the long haired man. She jumped onto him and two swift moves wrenched his head right off.

My vision darkened, but instantly snapped back when I felt another jolt of pain.

Two women were kneeling above me. A blond girl about my daughter's age, and an older brunette.

"How is he?" I heard Cullen ask.

"It's bad," the older woman answered.

"Rosalie," Cullen instructed, "Go start Bella's truck."

I felt the blond leave as some pressure disappeared from my chest. Through it all, though, I heard my daughter's screaming.

"It's going to happen, Edward," Cullen's younger daughter was saying when I looked up, "I've seen it."

"It can change!" he argued.

Cullen and his son exchanged words, but I didn't hear what they were saying. All I could understand besides the pain burning it's way through me was my daughter writhing beside me slamming her head against the floor.

Cullen's son whispered something to Bella before lifting her wrist to his mouth. My head was swimming. I dug up all the strength I could to move toward Bella, but Cullen's wife held me down.

My vision blacked out again momentarily, and came back when I heard Cullen instructing everyone to go.

I opened my eyes in time to see as Cullen's wife lifted me off the ground. Even as clouded by pain as my head felt I knew that she should not have been able to do so, but the thought slipped away and the last thing I registered was being in the back of Bella's truck seeing her across from me cradled in the younger Cullen's lap.


	2. Chapter 2

Just a warning this chapter contains descriptions of medical procedures that might be a little graphic to anyone who is sensitive to that kind of thing. Lots of Carlisle being a doctor though...yes, it's a personal kink of mine. So sue me!

Carlisle POV

Rosalie swung Bella's truck into the emergency lane just as I got off the phone with the fire department.

Jasper and Alice stayed behind to make sure that James was destroyed before anyone arrived to start putting out the fire at the Swans' house. I'd called the hospital first to let them know we were coming, but there was a good chance the neighbors had already seen the flames and called 911.

I was pleased to see staff members rushing out to meet us as I'd requested. For appearance's sake, Emmett leapt out of the passenger's seat and moved to help me transfer Charlie onto a gurney.

"Oh man!" the orderly gasped, "He is messed up!"

I was not surprised by his shock, Victoria nearly ripped Charlie Swan to shreds.

I nodded, "We need to take him into surgery right away. Go ahead and start prepping him, I'll be there as soon as I can. Also, call Dr. Russel, I'll need his help with this."

"Yes, Sir" the orderly nodded as he wheeled Charlie inside.

I turned to the nurse next to Bella and gave them quick instructions to set her up with an IV for the blood loss while they waited for whoever was on-call to look at her broken leg.

I conferred quickly with my family, and then left right away to work on Charlie. The nurse caught me coming out of the locker room to show me his x-ray. Along with the visible wounds, he had internal bleeding...not surprising after being jumped on by a vampire.

In truth, I wasn't certain we could save him, but I had to try. Bella only recently came into our lives, I didn't want her to lose her father as a result.

Russel arrived while I was scrubbing in, "Cullen, I hope you have damn good reason for paging me during the Mariners game."

"You're certified as a vascular surgeon," I explained, ignoring his complaining, "My patient has extensive injuries, including wounds to the carotid artery. I managed to tie it off to slow the bleeding, but I'll need your help with repair."

"Who's the patient?" Russel asked.

"Charlie Swan."

"What?" he exclaimed, "Charlie? What happened?"

"It's a long story, but there was a fire at his home. He was injured trying to get out."

"Aw damn! Burns? How bad are they?" Russel asked.

"Luckily, there were no burns," I clarified, turning off the tap with my elbow.

"Alright, you go a head, I'll be there in a minute."

I nodded in acknowledgement as I went through the OR doors, and waited while the nurses put on my mask and gloves. My body couldn't host human diseases, but it was possible I could transfer something on my hands, so I followed sterile procedure more than just for appearances.

"How's it going?" I asked as took my place next to the operating table.

"I just put him under a second ago," the anesthesiologist answered, "His heart-rate was a little high at first, but so far he seems to be holding up pretty well."

"Alright, lets get started then," I said to everyone.

In the ER they had placed extra clamps on his neck wound, which were holding nicely. Since all of his vital signs were normal, I decided to leave that for Russel and focus on his internal injuries instead.

I'd just determined that I'd have to remove his spleen, and repair his diaphragm before I could even get to the broken ribs when Russel arrived.

"Whoa! You said he had a neck injury, you didn't say almost half his neck and most of his left shoulder were gone!" He exclaimed.

After taking a moment to examine the wound Russel shook his head in dismay, but took a breath and got started.

We worked mostly in silence after that. Once I finished with Charlie's abdominal injuries, I moved on to his chest. Four of his ribs had broken but luckily missed the major organs.

"Okay, finished with the jugular vein," Russel announced, "And the repairs on the carotid look to be holding up nicely...hm, that's weird. Wow, that is so strange!"

"What is it, doctor?" one of the nurses asked.

"I'm almost certain I made repairs in three places, but I can only find one now and it looks smaller. If I didn't know any better I would swear it had already healed over!"

I had barely been listening. Russel was not the most likable of my human colleagues, but he was a very competent doctor, so I trusted him to work on his own. However, his words caught my attention. I looked up from what I was doing toward Charlie's neck.

Russel shrugged, "I guess it means we know we got all the bleeders, at least."

My eyes could easily see his wound in detail from where I stood, and Russel was right, the bleeding had slowed and it did appear to be healing. Healing far faster than it should be.

"Um, I wouldn't be so certain about that!" The anesthesiologist interrupted, "His heart-rate and blood pressure just dropped a bit."

I hadn't been breathing. I never did when performing surgery, except when it was necessary to take in air to speak. Even though I'd taught myself to be virtually immune to the thirst for humans, I didn't like to take any chances being in a confined space with that much blood.

With a sinking feeling, though, I took a breath through my nose. Even though my surgical mask, and mixed the smell of blood and disinfectant it was there...the unmistakable scent of venom.


	3. Chapter 3

I didn't put a genre on this fic because I really can't describe it. It's kind of writing itself. Right now there's a lot of action and suspense going on, but later there will also probably be romance and...bildungsroman elements.

Carlisle POV

"Carlilse...Carlisle!" Russel's voice broke through my shock, "I can't find any bleeding around the neck, what about the internal injuries?"

I made a show of searching around inside the incision in his abdomen. I knew I hadn't missed any injuries, but, even if I had, it wouldn't really matter if he was turning.

How could I have missed this? We checked him over for bite marks, and didn't find any. We hadn't smelled any venom on him, though it was certainly there now. Perhaps it was only a small amount, and in a wound that size the marks could have been obscured even to vampire eyes.

I glanced up quickly at the wall clock. We'd been operating on him for over 6 hours now, the change would be advanced...no possibility of stopping it like we had for Bella.

This didn't make sense. He wasn't screaming, he wasn't even moving. He looked just like any other human under general anesthesia. Of course, who's to say anesthesia wouldn't work during the change? I was certain it had never been tried before-

I pushed those thoughts away. It was pointless to speculate at the moment. I had to move quickly. If his vital signs dropped any more, which they would until the flat-lined, the staff would do as they were trained and try to revive him. Then if Charlie woke up fully turned in the middle of a hospital...

Dear God, it would be a massacre! A very public massacre. This could very well result in our deaths, as well as that of however many innocent people.

"I don't see any. It may be a delayed drop, though, so hang another bag of O-negative," I instructed the scrub nurse before turning to Russel, "We should go ahead and close him up. We've done all we can for now."

"Yeah, you're probably right," Russel sighed and began removing the instruments from his neck.

"At least if he makes it through tonight we can arrange to have him transferred to a trauma center in Seattle, or Tacoma maybe," He went on, "Plus, there he could see someone in plastics. Even without burns this thing is going to require some skin grafts."

I nodded sadly in agreement. I, unfortunately, knew that skin grafts would not be relevant, because he wouldn't make it through the night.

I worked as fast as possible, stitching at vampire speed as much as I could without anyone noticing. Luckily, Charlie's vitals signs did not drop any more. I kept ordering bags of donor blood to keep his blood pressure up artificially, and, hopefully, dilute the venom to slow down the change.

Still, between having to slow down to avoid suspicion, and the time it took Russel to pack and bandage the neck wound it took another hour before we finished.

When we were done I had to let the nurses take Charlie away to avoid drawing attention to myself. I scrubbed out quickly, and went up to the ICU where I knew he would be taken.

"Excuse me! Dr. Cullen?" two police officers stepped into my path as I went by the nurses' station, "We need to speak with you."

"I was just on my way to see a patient," I responded.

"It'll only take a minute," one said.

"I'm sorry, but I'm very busy-"

"Dr. Cullen," the other officer interrupted, "It wasn't a request. Now step aside please, or we'll be forced to place you under arrest."

I looked at them. Their expressions were very serious. I had no choice. The only way to avoid attention was to appease them.

"Alright," I agreed, "What's this about?"

"The emergency room staff said that you and your family brought Charlie and Isabella Swan in yourselves," one of the officers commented.

"Yes, that's right."

"How did that happen?" he asked.

"Bella Swan is friends with my son. She was playing baseball with our family earlier today...or rather, yesterday, I suppose," I explained.

"Baseball?" he asked.

"Yes," I answered, "After she went home we noticed she left her purse behind, so we decided to bring it to her at her house."

"'We' meaning..."

"Myself, my wife, Esme, my sons, Edward and Emmett, and my daughter, Rosalie."

"What about your other two children?" the other officer asked.

"Jasper and Alice drove a separate car. They did not follow us to the Swans' home," I answered, "I assume they went home."

"You didn't call them to find out?"

"I had planned to go home after returning Bella's bag, but instead I had to come here and go right into surgery. I'm sure my wife has called to check on them," I responded.

"What time did you arrive at the Swan house?" the officer went on.

"It was about 8:30 PM, I believe. When we got there we noticed flames and smoke coming from the house."

"What happened then?" he asked.

"We got out to make sure they were okay. Bella was in the front yard, and Charlie was under some debris...it looked like they were trying to escape-"

"Why didn't you call 911?"

"It seemed more important to get them out of immediate danger, and treat their wounds as quickly as possible," I answered.

"What did you do at that point?"

"After I treated them as best I could in the field, we transported them to a hospital in Bella Swan's truck...our car was too small to carry everyone."

"Again, Dr. Cullen, I'm a little confused about why you didn't call for an ambulance?" the officer asked, "I'm mean surely, as a physician, you know it's a safer way to move an accident victim than a pickup truck?"

"I knew that the hospital was only ½ mile away, and the nearest fire station, which is always the first to respond to an emergency call, was 2 miles away. I also knew that with injuries as severe as Charlie's the more quickly he received treatment the more chance he had of surviving, so, as a physician, I decided that a less conventional means of transportation was the safer means instead of wasting time waiting for an ambulance to arrive and paramedics to make assessments that I already had!" I snapped, hoping that if they thought I was simply another arrogant doctor they wouldn't be suspicious.

"How is he?" the other officer asked in a more sincere tone.

"We did all we could for him. If he makes it through tonight there's a chance he'll recover," I lied.

"Just one more thing, Dr. Cullen," the first officer said, "What do you think started the fire?"

"Well, I have no way of knowing that," I answered.

"Uh huh," he nodded, "Well if you think of anything that might be relevant you give us a call."

"Of course," I responded.

The two police officers walked away just as Alice came out of the elevator.

"Carlisle!" she came up to me breathless and fear-stricken, "I'm so sorry! I didn't see it until you did, I was too busy watching incase Victoria came back!"

"It's alright, Alice, none of us picked up on this," I answered.

"Picked up on what?" Edward asked appearing behind me, he looked at me for a moment before his eyes widened, "Charlie Swan was bitten? He can't turn with this many humans around!"

"I know, we need to get him out of here-"

"How are we going to do that?" Alice asked, "As far as everyone knows he's still alive, someone will notice if he just disappears-"

Alice cut off in mid-sentence, her eyes glazing over the way they did whenever she had a vision.

I didn't get a chance to ask her what she'd seen because, before I could stop him, Edward took off at vampire speed.


	4. Chapter 4

Bella POV

I dreamed I was falling, swirling around and around, my stomach turning as the clouds spun around me. I jerked awake with a jolt of pain just before I hit the ground in my dream.

The pain faded and my eyes cleared, but the nauseous feeling in my stomach stayed.

"Hey, welcome back," someone said. I turned to the voice. It was a nurse standing next to my bed.

"How are you feeling?" she asked, over and looking at the machine next to me.

"Um..." I started, my mouth was dry, "...a little sick."

"Yeah?" she asked, "How bad is it?"

"Not very," I whispered.

"Okay," she nodded studying my face, "Well just sit tight, and your doctor should be here in a minute."

I looked around slowly. I was in a hospital room, that was obvious, and my leg was wrapped in a heavy cast, propped up with a large, firm pillow.

A doctor in a white coat came through the door, "Hey, you're awake. I'm Dr. Ayers. Can you tell me your name?"

"Bella Swan," I answered as he walked forward and shined a light into my eyes.

"Good, and how about your date of birth? Can you tell me that?"

"Um..." I wrapped my head around the question, "...September 13th 1987."

"Very good, Bella," he smiled, "So how are you feeling? Are you having any pain?"

"I felt a little queasy," I answered, "But I think it's going away."

He nodded, "Yes, well you have a slight concussion, so you might feel a little shaky and sick for a while. It's normal."

"Okay," I answered, "...what happened?"

He and the nurse glanced at each other quickly.

"There was an accident at your house, Bella," the nurse responded, "a fire-"

The memories came rushing back the moment she said 'fire'. Encountering the vampires at the field. The two showing up at my house before I had a chance to leave. Edward and James breaking down the walls of my dad's house as they fought. Seeing the woman throw Charlie through the air and then jump on him...

I gasped, "My dad! Is he okay? What happened to my dad?"

The nurse stepped to my side and set her hands on my shoulders to keep me from sitting up, "We're taking good care of him-"

"Well is he okay? Is he alive?"

"They took your father into surgery as soon as he arrived-" Dr. Ayers started to explain.

"Is he going to be alright?" I demanded.

"Bella," he stepped forward, "You need to clam down-"

"I can't calm down until you tell me if-"

"I can check and see if there's any word on him if you want, but you have to clam yourself down first," he said firmly.

I took a deep breath, "I'm fine. I just want to know if my dad is okay."

"I'll be back in a moment," Dr. Ayers said.

The nurse settled me back down into the pillows, and explained to me that I had broken my leg but I was going to be alright.

"Where's Edward?" I asked her.

"Who?"

"Edward Cullen."

"Oh! Dr. Cullen's son!" she said, "Um...I believe Dr. Cullen is still here, but, I'm sure his family has gone home-"

"Can I see him if they're still here?" I asked.

"I'm sorry, but no-" I opened my mouth to protest, but she cut me off, "It's 2:30 in the morning, Bella. We can't allow visitors at a time like this, and, besides, they probably went home to get some rest. I'm sure they'll be back in the morning."

I frowned, but didn't get a chance to argue because Dr. Ayers returned.

"Okay, your father's almost ready to come out of surgery. He's stable for the moment."

I sighed with relief, "Can I see him?"

Dr. Ayers shook his head, "He isn't conscious at the moment -"

"Please," I begged, not being able to stop the tears that welled up in my eyes, "My mom doesn't live in Washington...I just want to see him for a second."

Dr. Ayers thought for a moment.

"You aren't well enough to be moved right now," he said, "but we've placed you in the ICU for tonight since you were unconscious from blood loss on top of a concussion. Your father will need a room here, as well, so we could probably bring him into this one."

"Yes! Thank you, that would be great!" I cried.

"If I think it's too stressful for you, though, we'll have to separate you again," he said giving me a hard look.

"It won't be," I answered with a little bit more confidence than I felt.

He nodded, and stepped back out.

I sat back into the pillows. I was still upset I couldn't see Edward, but at least I'd be able to assure myself that Charlie was alright.

A few minutes later a team wheeled another bed into the room. As they pushed it to a stop, 'alright' suddenly didn't seem like a very appropriate description.

One side of his face all the way down to his neck was covered in a huge, white bandage, and the other looked deathly pale.

I gulped heavily, but forced myself to stay calm. I had to be strong for Charlie.

I forced a smile at Dr. Ayers, which I don't think he believed. The nurse stepped forward to rearrange my pillows again.

"You need to get more rest, Bella," she said, "I'll be back in an hour to wake you."

I did not feel like sleeping, but I didn't want them to think I was 'too stressed', so I laid my head back. With my eyes closed, I pushed all the terrifying images from my mind, taking deep breaths, and listened to the steady beeping sounds from my dad's heart monitor...

I must have been more tired than I thought because, after what felt like only a second, I jolted awake again.

All the nurses and doctors were gone from the room. I lifted my head to see what woke me up.

A creaking sound answered my question. I turned my head and saw Charlie jerking erratically in his bed. His back arched lifting the blanket off the bed, and he made an awful keening sound around the plastic tube in his mouth.

The machine hooked up to Charlie was making an alarm sound. Charlie gave another violent jerk, shaking the entire bed, before collapsing back with his head hanging off the side. The alarm sound was joined by a steady beeping, just like the kind they showed on hospital shows on tv...

I opened my mouth gasping for air. I wanted to scream, but the sound stuck in my throat.

_This can't be happening, _I thought to myself, _Tell me that didn't just happen!_

Tears welled up in my eyes causing me to barely see when Charlie began moving his head around again. He struggled for a second before reaching up and yanking the tube from his mouth.

I blinked the tears from my eyes in just enough time to notice the new, yet familiar, otherworldly aura about him.

I was not surprised when a second later all I saw was the slight blood red tinge in his otherwise black eyes.

A/N: Not sure if the update everyday thing will last, but I've been on a role lately.

Also, Bella is still the same age she was in Twilight, but, for the purposes of this story, these events are occurring in May 2005, so I adjusted her birth year accordingly.


	5. Chapter 5

Charlie POV

I was burning from the inside out. I couldn't see or hear anything. I couldn't move. No matter how hard I tried to move to escape it, or, even to just open my eyes, I couldn't.

The agony just continued to get worse and worse. Past all thresholds of pain I could imagine. It built so high I knew I couldn't take it anymore. I would die! I screamed against it, whether I was actually screaming, or still paralyzed, I don't know.

The building stopped in a clap, and the pain receded, leaving behind only aches from the memory of it, and a sharp feeling in my throat.

Once it was gone, I could feel something in my mouth. I closed my teeth around it. It made a crinkling sound, and tasted rubbery.

When I realized my arms were actually moving, I reached up and grabbed whatever it was. It was some kind of tube.

I pulled it out of my mouth. It rubbed my throat, but did not relieve the pain. I instinctively took in a breath and was assaulted by smells.

Acrid clean, salt, and something else. It was so strong I could actually taste the smell. Something rich, scintillating...and MINE!

I leapt toward it-

"Dad, no! Dad!" a scream burst through my conscious.

I was holding a girl underneath me by her neck. I studied her for a second, seeing the blood rushing beneath her skin. I gripped harder and watched in fascination as her lips turned purple and began to swell from the blood trapped in them.

"Dad," she rasped again. Instinctively eased my grip. She moved her eyes so that I was looking right into them. The color was...strange. Familiar?

"You remember," she said, "I know you remember me, Dad. It's Bella."

_Bella...remember...Bella...Dad._

Closed my eyes and tried to shake the echo of her voice away. I couldn't understand what was happening! I wished she would stop talking!

I breathed in again trying to figure out where that good smell went. It washed over me, warming me up, but was mixed with another scent. I didn't recognize it...but I knew it.

I knew it was a threat even before I turned to see the male lunging at me.

.

.

.

A/N: Okay guys, short chapter to get you through the coming Monday. I also wanted opinions. This is getting into the disturbing, and looks like it will more so before it's over. However, I'm loathe to raise the rating to M, because, while there will be a part of this that is Dark!fic, I don't really feel like it needs it. I know this genre is young adult fiction, but it's still a series about vampires! What do you guys think, can you handle the darkness?


	6. Chapter 6

Carlisle POV

I ran after Edward as quickly as I dared. Luckily, the only people around at this time of night were the night-shift staff, so the halls were, relatively, empty.

He did, however, run into a nurse on his way into one of the rooms. I caught her before she hit the ground as Alice sped past me into the room after Edward.

"Are you alright?" I asked her.

"Wha-what happened?" she blinked at me a few times before struggling to sit up, "There was a code! The code alarm went off on Charlie Swan!"

Oh no, so that was what Alice and Edward saw.

I thought quickly about what to tell her, "Yes, I already checked him. You're right the monitor shows a code, but when I got in there the ventilator was still working and his pulse was strong. I think the problem must be with the monitor."

"You already checked him?" she asked.

"Yes," I nodded, "I'm afraid I didn't realize that I hit you with the door going in. I thought you were right behind me. Did you black out?"

She blinked again, "I...I don't know. I must have."

I helped her to her feet.

"Can you stand alright? Are you feeling dizzy?" I asked, going through the motions of checking her for a concussion. I was almost certain she was fine, although colliding with a vampire at full speed could have resulted in injury.

"No," she shook her head, "I feel okay."

"Alright, have someone call the engineer and then go get yourself check out," I instructed.

"Okay," she nodded, turning away slowly. She was confused, but seemed to believe what I'd told her.

As soon as she was out of sight I ducked into the room. Alice and Edward had Charlie pinned to the far wall, and he was fighting them viciously. Edward was using all his strength. Alice had her hand clasped over his mouth to muffle the noise, eventhough his teeth where embedded in her hand. The worse part, however, was that we weren't the only ones in the room. Bella was in the second bed.

I swore to myself. Who put him in here without informing me?

I rushed over to help Alice and Edward hold him.

"I manged to text Jazz the room number on the way in," Alice gritted out, "He should be here soon."

"Dad, stop! Please!" Bella shouted.

To my surprise, Charlie did stop struggling. His eyes moved past us to her. I held him tighter incase he tried to attack.

Jasper and Esme came through the door less than a second later, and a flood of lethargy caused the four of us, including Charlie, to slump to the floor in a heap.

Jasper stepped over us to Charlie so that he could place his hands on him.

"Thank you," I whispered to him. Jasper nodded, keeping his eyes closed to not break concentration.

Edward pulled himself up, his movements slightly less graceful than normal, and rushed to Bella's side.

"Are you alright, love?" he asked.

Bella nodded, "Yeah...is Dad okay?"

"No, none of us are okay!" he answered, "How did this happen?"

"What are we going to do about this, Carlisle?" Esme asked as she helped Alice up. Everyone spoke at once, panicked because this was a worst case scenario coming true for us.

"Everyone quiet," I cut in, "We need to move fast!"

I stepped over and cautiously met Charlie Swan's eyes, "Charlie? Charlie Swan?"

He looked at me for a moment before answering, "Yeah...yeah I'm Charlie Swan."

"Yes, you are," I nodded, "You need to listen to me. I know you're confused and uncomfortable, but you'll have to trust us. I promise we'll explain everything, but right now you need to do exactly as we say."

He shook his head and looked past me "Bella?"

"Bella's alright. However, you must do as we say or she could be hurt," I whispered to him at speed faster than human ears could hear. I felt guilty exploiting his love for his daughter, but what I said was true.

He looked at me confused and suspicious, "Do what?"

The door behind me swung, but it turned out to be only Alice leaving.

"First you need to hold your breath. It won't be a problem now, just try it."

He did.

"Good. Now we need you to lie down over here," I moved to his bed. Alice came back into the room.

"I got extra sensors," Alice said, moving over to rewire the monitor.

"All you have to do is lie down. Close your eyes and hold your breath. We'll also need you to hold this tube in your mouth," I showed him the ventilator tube, tearing it down to a shorter length so that it wouldn't have to go all the way down his trachea, "You'll feel air through it, but be sure not to breathe through your nose. A person is going to come in here. Just stay perfectly still until he's gone and everything will be alright."

He looked at me like he didn't want to agree, but relented in the end. Jasper was obviously manipulating his emotions a lot to make him so pliable.

Once we got Charlie settled down I turned to Bella, "Are you alright?"

She nodded, though her eyes were wide with fear.

"We'll need your help with this Bella," I explained, "We have to use your heartbeat as your father's. Someone is going to come in here to fix the monitor, because I convinced them it was malfunctioning. Keep this sensor under you blankets, and, when I signal you, place it on the upper left side of your chest."

She nodded quickly, "Okay...okay I can do that."

I smiled reassuringly, "I know you can."

"Edward," Esme placed her hand on his arm.

"No," he shook his head, keeping his hold around Bella, "I'm not leaving her."

"Edward, you can't be in here. It'll raise too many questions," I told him, "I promise you, son, I won't let anything happen to Bella."

He was reluctant, but let Esme and Alice lead him with them where they went to hide in the bathroom stall.

Jasper crouched in the dark part of the small closet with the explanation that the closer he was the more he could control Charlie's emotions.

With everyone safely out of sight I waited. The person that arrived, however, was not one of the equipment specialists. It was after hours so it was just a regular maintenance man. A fact that would probably work in our favor.

He fiddled with the monitor for a moment. Asking me repeatedly if I was sure that the sensors were placed properly, to which I lied that they were. Finally, he decided to try turning the machine off and then back on.

While his back was turned I nodded to Bella, and, when the monitor came back up, her normal vital signs jumped onto the screen.

Satisfied that the problem was fixed, the maintenance man gathered up his stuff and left.

I breathed an unnecessary sigh of relief, while everyone came out of their hiding places.

Jasper moved next to Charlie immediately, and Edward did the same to Bella. Alice and Esme came to stand next to me.

"Okay," Edward said, "What do we do now?"

"We have to get him out of here," Jasper said as Charlie sat up and spat out the ventilator tube, "He has to feed. I can't keep him calm much longer."

"We might be able to get him out for a while, but he'd have to come back," Alice pointed out, "He's supposed to still be alive. How are we going to get this past the humans?"

"Alice is right, we'll have to create a ruse to convince the humans he's simply died," I agreed, "I'm afraid it's essential. The police are already suspicious of us."

Everyone exchanged alarmed looks.

"Keeping it a secret won't be an option if we wait much longer!" Jasper insisted.

"Can we even take him out through town?" Esme wondered, and she was right. Our control over him was tenuous even in this room, but a newborn out in the open in the middle of Forks would be impossible to handle, and we couldn't afford to make any more mistakes tonight.

"No, there's only one thing we can do," I agreed, although the thought of giving him human blood with so many around made me very nervous.

"It'll work, Carlisle," Alice reassured me,

"Edward," I turned to him, "We'll need your ability for this."

He nodded, and then said to Bella, "I'll be right back."

She smiled weakly as he exited from the window. I couldn't help feeling admiration in looking at her. The poor girl must have been terrified, but she was handling all of this remarkably well.

Unfortunately, I was afraid we'd have to put her through even more before this night was over.

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A/N: One time only disclaimers.

The medical stuff hasn't been entirely accurate. I'm sorry. I've tried to do the best I could, but I couldn't make it totally accurate and make the plot that I wanted work.

This is alternate universe. Meaning I intend to play fast and loose with canon. This is because there was a lot about canon that struck me as unrealistic and/or limiting to character growth.

Charlie's change was too fast. Yes, I altered how long the change takes. This was simply because I wondered what would happen if a vampire ran into one of their human family members, and had an idea that required Bella to be present when Charlie turned. For that to work, I had to make it a lot quicker than 3 days.


	7. Chapter 7

Happy 4th of July everyone!

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Carlisle POV-Don't worry as things progress we'll hear from some of the others, but right now he just won't shut up!

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It took Edward a total of 10 minutes, but he finally leapt back through the window, his arms laden with bags of donor blood.

He dropped them onto Charlie's bed and rushed over to Bella. We all moved to form a protective circle around her bed, Jasper strategically placing himself closest to the open window.

I held out one of the bags and instructed Charlie to bite. As soon as he did so the frenzy took over. After draining the bag in less than a second, he dropped it haphazardly on the floor and moved to the next one.

"This was Versace," Alice sighed as she knelt down to wipe up the spilled blood with her jacket. Esme took hers off as well, and they used it to form a nest to catch the empty bags as Charlie dropped them.

I glanced over my shoulder at Edward. He was holding Bella against his chest so that she wouldn't see what was going on.

"Did you have any trouble getting into storage?" I whispered to him.

"No," he answered, "I got the passcode from an employee who was leaving, and moved faster than the security cameras could record."

I nodded. That was good. The blood shortage would be noticed, but as long as there was nothing that could connect us to it there shouldn't be a problem.

When Charlie finished the last bag, Alice scooped up the pile of empties and took it outside via the window.

"Charlie," I addressed him, "How are you feeling?"

Charlie looked at me, his expression more clear now, "Doc? What the hell is going on?"

"I'm sorry to have to tell you, you are a vampire now."

"What?" he demanded, "That's ridiculous!"

"Dad, he's telling the truth," Bella said from behind me.

"Bella!" Edward hissed at her.

"He won't hurt me. He recognized-"

"He's not your father anymore, Bella," Edward argued.

Charlie growled, "Who do you think you are saying something like that-"

"Quiet!" I interrupted before they raised their voices too much, "Charlie, I know your human memories are telling you to think what I'm saying is absurd, but in fact, you know it's true. You can feel that you've changed."

I watched his expression as he processed what I'd said.

"A vampire?" he asked, "How? How is this possible? How did it happen?"

"Do you remember what happened last night at your house?"

He thought for a moment, "The man...he broke through the door. And the woman. They attacked us."

"Yes," I nodded, "Their names were James and Victoria. They were nomadic vampires who decided to target Bella as their prey. They took us by surprise by attacking your home. Most would be more discrete than to attack in a residential area. I'm afraid you got caught in the middle. We didn't realize until later that you were bitten."

"So that means I'm a vampire?" he asked.

"Yes. James is destroyed. The woman got away, but we're searching for her," I explained.

"We?" he asked, "You're...vampires too, I can tell that, but what are 'you'?"

Jasper glanced at me, "Perhaps that's an explanation that's better left to later."

"Yes," I agreed, "What's important now is that we need to convince the humans you've died."

"Why do we need to do that?" Charlie demanded.

"Because as a vampire you will thirst for them. The smell that you're holding your breath to avoid...that's human blood," I told him.

He looked startled at this, and his attention immediately went to Bella.

"Yes, most of it is Bella's blood," I answered his unspoken question, "You'll feel the same around all humans, so we need to convince them you've died so that we can get you out of here away from them."

"And if we do that, it'll stop this..." he searched for the words.

I nodded, "You'll feel calmer and clearer once you're away from humans."

"Alright," he agreed, "So what are we doing?"

I turned to my family, "At this point we'll have to fake a code."

"You should get Bella moved to another room first," Edward said.

"Yes," I agreed.

"No!" Jasper argued, "That won't work. If she isn't in the room, we have no way to simulate a heartbeat."

I froze. He was right.

"No!" Edward protested.

"There has to be another way, Carlisle," Esme joined in.

I sighed, "I wish there were."

*x*x*x*

The first thing I did after leaving Charlie and Bella's room was track down Ayers and his nurse to berate them for violating hospital policy by putting Charlie in the room without my approval.

I admit I took out my frustrations on them.

Our family was shaken up by this. Emmett and Rosalie had left before Charlie woke to take over for Alice and Jasper searching for Victoria. Alice was now in the process of getting their help with what we were about to do.

Esme was still unhappy with the plan, but she, at least, admitted it was necessary. Edward remained vehemently against it, and after hearing what we were going to do, Charlie was as well. Bella, however, agreed almost immediately.

In the end it was her insistence, as well as the lack of any alternatives, that solidified the decision.

I knew it was a good thing that she was willing to put herself through this, but hated that it was necessary.

This was my fault. We'd gotten careless. Underestimated James' determination, and overestimated our strength in outnumbering him and Victoria. His ex-companion, Laurent, had tried to warn me, but I didn't take him seriously enough. If I had perhaps we could have saved Charlie Swan's life, and spared his daughter this trauma.

Even more than that, we were still in danger. The plan was a huge risk, and if even one thing went wrong it could result in disaster. My family could end up being killed by this because I failed to protect them properly. I prayed that wouldn't happen.

I made myself busy, letting the staff see me going around the hospital until 4:20 came around. We agreed it was the best time to do this so that Charlie would be moved to the morgue in between when the night-shift left and the morning shift arrived.

I placed myself at the ICU nurses' station, and pretended to be doing paperwork. Edward sent me a text message saying that everything was ready. He insisted on being the last to leave the room besides Jasper, who would stay hidden in the closet in-case we needed him to manipulate Charlie's emotions.

A few moments later the code alarm sounded for Charlie's room. I took off along with the nurse so that we arrived at the same moment.

"Monitor shows no vitals," she told me.

I made a show of checking his heart with my stethoscope, reported that there was no heartbeat, and began simulating chest compressions. I was really just pushing him into the mattress, but the difference wasn't noticeable to human eyes.

As the code team arrived I motioned for the nurse to take care of Bella. She moved over and pulled the curtain between the beds closed.

I worked with the code them on Charlie. Eventually turning to shocking him with the defibrillator. He would feel the electricity, but it wouldn't cause muscle contractions like it would a human, so I'd instructed him on how and when to mimic the jolt. He pulled it off perfectly, and, as far as I could tell, managed to resist the urge to breathe in the smell of humans.

Bella played her part beautifully as well. After finally calling time of death at 4:46 AM, I went to her side of the curtain and found her being embraced by the nurse. Her face was streaked with tears, and she looked so convincingly like a girl who just witnessed her father die that my heart broke for her as I offered my condolences.

In a way she actually had witnessed her father's death that night...just not at the time we pretended it happened.

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A/N: Some people have been mentioning Carlisle/Bella and the other parings. I wil try to throw in very subtle tid-bits, but I must warn, Bella and Edward are going to stay together for a while yet. I do plan for Bella and Carlisle to get together, but it won't happen immediately, and the other parings are even farther off. Hopefully, however, the story will be interesting enough to bear with me through the wait.


	8. Chapter 8

Carlisle POV

"Carlisle?" Esme asked from the doorway of my office.

"Come in," I said, moving to close the door behind her, "Is everything alright?"

"Yes," she nodded, "Rosalie and Alice are taking turns watching the Swan house and the hospital. Last I heard from Alice, Jasper and Emmett had reached northern British Columbia with Charlie. I also called the school and told them that after the trauma of last night, we were keeping the children out today. Everyone in town has heard about the fire, so they seemed very understanding. Edward hasn't left Bella's side all day, but I convinced him to take a break to go hunting. Also, I spoke with Bella's mother this morning. She and her husband got a direct flight from Atlanta that should arrive in the next hour. I'm going over to pick them up at Sea-Tac when I leave here."

I smiled in appreciation at Esme. She always thought of everything in situations like these.

"Thank you," I said.

"Of course," she said with natural modesty.

"I made the arrangements with Charlie Swan's death certificate. In my report about his death I recommended no autopsy. Russell made the same recommendation. I don't think we'll have a problem there. The only difficulty will be once it's time to transfer him to the funeral home."

"He seemed alright when Emmett and Rosalie took him out of the morgue, and he didn't have a problem with the ride through town. You know more about it than I do, but he seemed to do very well for a newborn," she commented.

I nodded in agreement, "Yes, almost remarkably so in fact. I'm still amazed he didn't bite Bella when he woke with her in the room."

"Do you think it's because she's his daughter?"

"Perhaps, I've never heard an instance of a vampire encountering his human child before. I suppose it's possible part of him recognized her," I answered.

"Thank goodness for that," she responded.

"Yes," I agreed.

"Well I should be going if I want to make it to the airport before Mr. and Mrs. Dwyer's flight arrives," she said.

"I understand. I'll see you at home later," I answered.

After Esme left, I finished the last of Charlie Swan's paperwork and checked in on Bella. I found her napping, so I left her to sleep and packed up my things to go home. Although I didn't get tired physically, I was emotionally.

I was just out the doors at the front entrance to the hospital, when I caught a familiar pungent smell.

I spotted the wolf immediately leaning up against the side of the building staring at me intently.

With a sigh I turned to him, "I don't believe we've met. You are?"

He glared at me before answering, "Sam Uley. New pack leader."

"I see," I responded, "And why are you here?"

"You know why, Leech!" he snapped, "Charlie Swan! Did you really expect the fire would fool us?"

I opened my mouth to respond, but he continued.

"So what happened? What did one of your so called 'peaceful' leeches get hungry?"

"Are you interested in hearing what happened, or just insulting my family?"

He growled and stalked over to me, "I oughta kill you right now!"

"We have not violated the treaty," I answered, "Charlie Swan is still alive."

He paused, "What?"

"In a sense, at least," I continued.

"What the hell are you saying, Leech?" he demanded.

"You know what I'm saying," I answered.

"Yeah, and you know the rules about that kind of thing!" he said back.

"It wasn't any of us. We never intended for it happen," I told him.

"You expect me to believe that?"

"It's the truth."

"I'm going to need more than just your word," he answered, "If Charlie's still alive, if you can call it that, let us see for ourselves."

"He isn't in the area right now," I answered.

"How convenient-"

"There is a way I can prove it to you, though," I said. I felt I was frustrated and annoyed, but it was obvious he was not going to give up, "Come inside."

Inside the hospital I took him up to the ICU, and lead him to Bella's room. Closing the door behind me, I set my briefcase down, and moved over to gently wake her up.

She blinked up at me for a second before smiling, "Hey, what's going on? Where's Edward?"

I helped her sit up, but her question died mid-sentence when she noticed Sam's presence.

"Bella, hello," he said slightly awkwardly, "I'm Sam Uley. I knew your father."

"Oh," realization came over her, "Hi, um...it's good to meet you."

"Yes, I'm...I'm very sorry for your loss," he answered, shooting me a questioning look.

"Bella," I said to her, "Sam needs to know what happened to your father."

She turned to him, "Well...the fire. I don't even remember when we first noticed-"

"Bella," I cut her off gently giving her a poignant look, "he needs to know where you father is right now."

"I...what? Are you saying that..." she stammered uncertainly.

"Jesus Christ!" Sam exclaimed, "She knows? What the hell is going on here, Cullen?"

Bella's eyes widened, and she turned to me in shock, "He knows? How?"

I ignored Bella's question, since I was bound by the treaty from revealing the wolves to her. Instead I addressed Sam.

"A rogue group of vampires passed through the area recently. They were responsible for the recent deaths in Forks, and one of them set is sights on Bella as his next target. We were attempting to get her to safety when he attacked her in her home. My family and I intervened. I'm afraid, Charlie got caught in the middle. We didn't realize he had been bitten until it was too late. We destroyed one of them, but the other got away. Their scent should still be at the house if you want to see for yourselves, but I suggest discretion because the police are investigating as well."

Sam looked at me uncertainly before turning to Bella who was still looking on in shock.

"Bella," he said gently, pushing past me to her side, "They probably haven't told you, but **they **aren't the only ones out there. And they aren't invincible, though they like to pretend they are. My point is our people can protect you, even from...from vampires. We have strengths that the modern world does not know about. You can tell me if he's lying."

"I...no," she shook her head, "That is what happened."

"And your father?"

"My dad? He's um..." she trailed off and looked to me as if to ask if it was really alright to say it outloud.

She didn't need to though, her reaction was enough of a response for Sam.

He sighed, "It's alright. You don't need to say it."

She looked at him, "How do you know about all this?"

He hesitated before answering, "I think that's best explained at another time."

It was obvious she was not happy with that answer, but Sam didn't wait for her argument and turned to leave. I excused myself and followed him outside the door.

"Alright, you bought yourself 24 hours," he said, "But I still want to see Charlie for myself, and hear what he has to say about this. The elders might also have something to say about you letting a 17 year old girl in on this."


	9. Chapter 9

Rosalie POV

I gritted my teeth at having to hold my breath against the smell of mutt. Carlisle called and told me they were poking around because they thought we attacked Edward's human and her father. So I'd had to spend the last hour putting up with the stink from the two on the ground below me.

Occasionally one would give me a nasty look, which I gladly returned, but at least they'd been quiet since we had to hide from the humans.

The fire fighters left a few hours ago, and only the chief was going over what was left of the house.

I turned my attention back to the road when a police car drove up. One cop got out, and the chief went over to greet him.

"Hey, Tom."

"Dave," the cop nodded, "So how's it looking."

Dave shrugged, "Pretty straightforward. The point of origin was the water heater in the garage. Fire spread when it ignited a portable propane tank. Charlie probably kept it for his grill."

"Any sign of arson?" Tom asked.

Dave looked at him, "Should I be looking for any?"

"Charlie Swan's dead, Dave."

"This was an old house. Old water heater. I don't see any outward signs of it being anything other than an accident," Dave answered, "However, if you really suspect arson I can't rule it out without dogs and chemical testing, and I'd have to request a special investigator from the county for that."

Tom signed and looked at the house before answering, "Better make the request then."

I gritted my teeth even harder, and gave the wolves one last glare before leaping over to the next tree. I continued to bound through the treetops until I was a comfortable distance from the wolves, then I jumped to the ground and ran towards home.

The sun was just setting when I arrived. I stalked in through the backdoor, and found everyone gathered in the living-room.

I stopped in my tracks when I saw that Emmett was back and Charlie Swan was with him.

"What is he doing here?"

"Rosalie, don't be rude," Esme reprimanded.

I bit my lip to keep from speaking back.

"The wolves are demanding to see him in person. They've agreed to leave us in peace if we produce Charlie and he verifies what happened," Carlisle explained.

"Wonderful!" I huffed, "Well, I have more good news. The police suspect the fire was arson!"

"Whoa! What?" Emmett demeaned, "Why would they think that? Jazz and I staged everything perfectly so it would look like an accident."

"Apparently it's some kind of brotherhood of policemen deal," I answered.

"My guys are just doing their jobs," Charlie answered, and then looked confused about his statement.

I rolled my eyes. I was in no mood to deal with the patchy, reactive memories of a newborn.

"This is getting too dangerous," I said, "Say we forget the treaty and get out of here!"

"Wait, just leave?" Alice asked.

"Yes, just leave. We've done it before when we've been discovered, and that's what's about to happen now so why wait?"

"She's right," Edward chimed in, "This is too dangerous. We should leave."

"Edward, how can you say that?" Alice turned to him, "It would leaving Bella."

"That's exactly why we should leave," he answered, "She nearly died last night. I won't stay and watch her get hurt again."

"Wait a minute," Charlie jumped in, "Am I even a part of this discussion? Because I'm not leaving my daughter!"

"You can't-"

"Edward!" Carlisle interrupted, "I think we should take a step back and discuss all of this rationally. Now, Bella is safe for the moment. She was released from this hospital and is with her mother and step-father. Charlie, we've explained about the wolves, and tomorrow we'll meet with them and that situation will be cleared up. Now, Rose, what exactly did you hear from the police?"

"One of the cops told the fire chief he wanted a special investigator to look for signs of arson," I answered.

"Um...you know," Emmett jumped in, "Leaving is starting to sound better and better. I mean, that combined with what you told us that other cop said to you last night, Carlisle...this isn't sounding like a good situation."

"I would agree," Jasper said, "This could draw too much attention to us."

"Well, I don't want that," Esme said, "but I also agree with Alice. Just leaving Bella here does not feel like the right thing to do."

I sighed, "Which is exactly why we shouldn't have become this involved with a human in the first place!"

"Rose!" Esme warned.

"No, she's right," Edward agreed again, "About everything. I messed up. This is my fault. I have to make right now. We have to leave! Right now!"

"Edward, calm down," Carlisle put his hand on Edward's shoulder.

"No!" Edward pulled away from him, "We have to do this!"

Carlisle looked at Alice, "Have you seen any of our future?"

"It's clouded. Just images. I can't see much concrete."

"Carlisle, there is no other option!" Edward insisted.

"Edward," Jasper interrupted, "you need to calm down."

"I agree that we should all calm down." Carlisle said.

"What are you even worried about?" Charlie Swan asked out of no where, "You told me that...vampires are practically indestructible, so what does any of this matter?"

Carlisle answered, "Vampires who live among humans must be discrete. There are consequences to those who draw attention to themselves, deadly ones."

"Well if attention is what you're worried about, then leaving is the best way to get it!"

Everyone looked at him. Before I could demand to know what he meant, Carlisle asked.

"How do you mean?"

"If my guys consider you a suspect and you skip town, it's basically an admission of guilt. They'll want to find you."

"We can disappear without being found," I informed him.

"You said you were worried about attention, though, not about being found. It depends on how convinced my guys are you had something to do with what happened, but if they really wanted they could get the state police and the media involved," he said.

Silence filled the room. Even I was shocked by the thought

"Media?" Alice asked, "How much? I mean surely it wouldn't reach national media, would it?'

"You never really know with the media," he answered

"What does it even matter?" I asked, "We don't actually exist, remember?"

"We do, though," Alice argued, "People know us."

"They won't last," I pointed out, getting frustrated by how attached my family had become to the lie with lived, "This has happened before. Time will pass. They'll move on, and, eventually, everyone we know right now in Forks will be dead."

"Humans aren't our concern though. It's the Volturi! If we come up in the media, they won't be happy about that!"

"Alice is right," Carlisle said, "This is a very technologically advanced time. The press could easily find our names and photographs. My work, your school...any number of other sources. It's something we can't risk happening. I'm afraid it may be better to stay where we are so as not to increase the polices' suspicion of us."

"You can't be serious!" Edward exclaimed, "It's too dangerous."

"Edward, we will be safer this way-"

"I'm not worried about us!"

"Edward-" Carlisle began, but Edward stormed away out one of the open windows before he could finish.

I frowned. The more I thought about it the more I realized Charlie Swan was right. Leaving was more dangerous. We would just have to wait this out and hope everything went alright.


	10. Chapter 10

A/N: Hey guys sorry for the long haitus. Hopefully the double update, and decent length will make up for it.

Bella POV

"I'm sorry for your loss."

Most of them had tears in their eyes as they said it. I forced myself to smile each time, and not flinch away when one patted my shoulder or gave me a hug.

It was weird seeing a bunch of big, burly police officers crying. I also felt guilty. They were really upset about Dad, and I was standing around watching them grieve when I knew that he was actually alive.

I couldn't tell anyone, of course, but it still made me feel awful.

Since our house was gone, and the cabin Renee and Phil rented was way too small, we held Dad's wake at the station.

I stood in between Mom and Phil as his co-workers came by to talk to us one by one. It felt like forever before things finally settled down, and I managed to sneak away.

I hobbled my way outside, and leaned my crutches against the front railing. I took a deep breath. I had to hold it together, I knew I had to, but it was so much. Spending the last two weeks having to pretend my Dad died...sometimes it felt like he really had. Especially since I hadn't seen him since that night in the hospital. I'd hardly seen Edward either. Even though I knew what really happened, it felt less real every day.

"Hey," a voice startled me.

I turned and found Jacob Black standing behind me.

"Hi," I answered.

"I'm sorry for your loss," he said flatly. I couldn't help but laugh at his tone of voice.

He laughed too as he leaned against the rail next to me, "Yeah, I know. I remember hearing that a lot when my mom died."

I laughed again and nodded.

"So um...what now? Are you going to move back to Phoenix?" he asked.

"I don't know. Phil got an offer from the Rainiers, but I don't know if he'll take it," I answered, "I really want to stay in Forks, but I don't know if my mom will. She never really liked it here."

"That sucks," he commented.

My throat was knotting at the thought of having to leave Edward and Dad, so I wasn't sure I'd be able to talk without crying.

"Dad wanted me to tell you that if you ever need anything all you have to do is ask and we'll help."

"Yeah, he said so earlier when you guys came in," I nodded.

Jacob shifted awkwardly, "Look I know things are just going to be crappy right now, and I don't even know if this'll help, but I wanted to just tell you that you've got the same offer from me. I mean you if you want to ya know get away from your parents, need a ride, whatever...I won't tell my dad or anything."

"You don't have to do that."

"Don't worry about it," He shrugged, "What are friends for, right?"

I smiled for real for the first time that day. I felt bad for the fact that he also thought dad was dead, but at the same time he being nice in a way that actually felt good instead of uncomfortable.

"Jacob?" Billy called as he wheeled himself out the front door, "Everything okay out here?"

"We're fine, Dad" Jacob answered.

Billy looked at me, "Bella things are winding down in there, you should really go be with your mother."

I nodded and awkwardly crutched my way back inside the station for another round of standing near the door looking sad as people passed by to offer their condolences.

When the last of the guests from the funeral finally left, Renee settled me down at a desk, while she and Phil tried to help the officers on duty at that time clean up. However, they wouldn't hear of it, and all but ordered us out of the station.

So Phil drove us back to the cabin.

I'd never felt awkward around Renee and Phil before. We'd all lived together in Phoenix since I was in Middle School, but things felt weird now.

"Bella, are you feeling alright?" Renee asked as we settled down in the main room, "Does your leg hurt?"

"No," I shook my head.

"Are you hungry? We could order pizza for dinner."

"No, I'm not really," I answered, "I am kind of tired, though, I think I might go to my room for a while."

Renee stroked my cheek, "Okay, Sweetie."

She helped me to the room that they'd set up as mine when they rented the cabin, and I breathed a sigh of relief when she shut the door behind her.

And yet, at the same time it didn't feel like a relief at all. I could barely stand being around people, but I felt anxious at being alone.

I looked at the alarm clock on the nightstand. 6PM. Too early to go to sleep...if I could even get to sleep.

I couldn't stand this! I wanted to see Edward. It wanted to talk to the Cullens' about everything that had happened, but I hadn't seen any of them. Edward wasn't answering his cellphone. It was like that first week at school when he just disappeared.

I wondered if he'd be at his house. Surely he would be? I felt like I had to find out for certain, but I couldn't.

I couldn't drive with my broken leg, and I couldn't very well ask Renee or Phil to drive me since I didn't know if Dad might be there too.

I had to see Edward, though. I was going to go crazy if I didn't!

I ran my hands through my hair trying to think of anyway I might be able to at least talk to him.

The idea drifted into my head slowly, and I argued with myself for a while, but eventually I was digging my phone out of my purse and punching in the numbers.

88888

Jacob stashed my crutches in the back of his VW Rabbit, and slid into the driver's side.

"When I offered I didn't realize you'd take me up on it so soon," he said.

I bit my lip, "I'm sorry...I shouldn't have asked."

"No, no, it's okay," he answered as he started up the engine, "I'm not really sure why we had to lie about where we're going though."

"I..." I searched for a believable excuse, "I just didn't want them to know."

He snorted.

"What?" I asked.

"I'm sorry I just...," Jacob said, "Why couldn't Cullen come pick you up himself? He wasn't even at the funeral! What's up with that?"

"Well, the Cullens didn't really know Charlie," I offered, "and I just didn't want to deal with all the boyfriend meeting the parents drama. Really, it was fine."

"Whatever! Even I know that if your girlfriend's father dies you go to the damned funeral!"

I looked away. He was getting suspicious. This was a bad idea...

"I'm sorry," he interrupted my thought, his voice softer, "I shouldn't have just...said it like that."

"It's okay," I muttered.

He tapped his hand against the steering wheel as he drove. It watched him staring intently at the road. His demeanor was so different than it had been at the funeral. He looked tense and worked up.

"Jake are you okay?"

"Yeah, yeah it's just...nothing."

"No, Jake, tell me. What's wrong?"

"It's nothing, really! It's just a Quileute thing, you wouldn't understand."

"I would if you tell me."

He sighed, "On the reservation the Cullens are...it's hard to explain, but basically everyone's told to stay away from them. If my dad knew where I was going he'd kill me."

I bit my lip, "I don't want to get you in trouble-"

"Don't worry about it. I said I take you, I'll do it," he answered, "But I'd appreciate it if you kept it to yourself that I did."

"He'd really be that upset?" I asked.

Jake laughed, "And then some!"

I mused over this, wondering if this had to do with Sam Uley's visit to the hospital. Was it possible all the Quileutes knew the Cullens were vampires?

"You have to admit they're kind of freaks," he went on.

"They aren't freaks!" I argued. Did Jake know about vampires? He was the one that told me the original story about the cold ones. Was that what he was saying?

"Their family has lived in Forks for like a hundred years, but no one knows anything about them!" he argued back, "The Doctor and his wife adopted five kids, and they're all dating each other. It's weird."

"You don't even know them!"

"Whatever, they give me the creeps."

We drove in silence the rest of the way to the Cullens' house, and when we arrived Jake parked in the driveway.

"You sure you want to do this?" he asked.

"What does that mean? You act like I'm walking into a house full of serial killers or something!" I snapped, though part of my mind reminded me the truth wasn't really so far off.

"Yeah...I know. I'm being paranoid," Jake sighed looking a little embarrassed, "Blame tribal superstition, I guess."

Jacob let the subject drop as he helped me get out of the car and onto my crutches. He didn't say anything else, but also didn't put up a fight when I told him I could make it to the door on my own.

He gave me one last look before starting up the Rabbit and slowly pulling out of the driveway.

Once he was out of sight, I didn't even have time to raise my hand to ring the bell. The door flew open, Alice stepped out, and wrapped me in a hug.

"Bella, so good to see you."

"You too," I said, but I couldn't hug back while holding onto my crutches.

"Go ahead and come in," she said as she lifted me, crutches and all, over the threshold and closed the door behind us, "I should warn you though-"

"Bella!" Edward's angelic voice rang in my ears. I turned to toward it. He was coming in through the kitchen followed by Carlisle and Esme. My heart leapt at seeing him, but then sank when I saw that he looked upset, "What are you doing here?"

"I...I," before I could stammer out an answer, Jasper, Emmett, and Rosalie climbed in through the side window followed by my father.

I looked at him. He hand changed since the hospital. He now looked more like the Cullens. Strong and otherworldly, and with golden eyes instead of red.

"Dad?" I asked softly.


	11. Chapter 11

Charlie POV

'I know her. She's my daughter,' my mind told me as I stared at the girl.

"Bella?" I echoed to her.

She pushed herself forward in a slow, clumsy step, dropping the crutches in her hands, and actually falling toward me. The seven vampires around me lunged toward her as she plummeted forward.

She felt like a light, warm bundle as I caught her.

Everyone froze

Each of the Cullens had at least one hand on her, and were posed to fight. She stiffened, but I could feel that she had her arms wrapped around my waist.

Through my foggy mind I recalled feeling this before. At times she was smaller but...

I moved my arms around her back, and returned the embrace.

When I looked up, then Cullens were still in the same place with looks ranging from shock to suspicion.

Carlisle stepped back first easing his wife away slowly. Alice Cullen followed suit, and nodded for the blond boy, Jasper, to do the same. The other son and daughter looked doubtful, but eventually stepped back as well.

Edward, however, did not move and continued glaring at me.

I growled back at him.

"Edward," Carlisle stepped toward him. Edward looked at him in what I now knew was a telepathic conversation.

"It'll be okay, Edward," Alice said.

His threatening posture eased a bit, but he would not let go of Bella, which irritated me. It suddenly disappeared, though, and I was left with a strange feeling of calm.

Bella pushed back and looked up a me.

"Hi," she said softly.

"Are you okay?" I asked.

She nodded, salty smelling tears welling up in her eyes.

As she stood back up Edward all but pulled her away from me.

"Why don't we all sit down?" Carlisle suggested, distracting me momentarily.

The others agreed, and took places on the various furniture in the livingroom. I watched, annoyance bubbling up inside of me and then being squashed again by that strange calm, as Edward lead Bella to a seat. However, it was obvious that he was shielding her from me as much as he was helping her.

"It's good to see you, Bella," Carlisle said, "How are you feeling?"

"I'm okay," she answered.

Esme Cullen reached over and took her hand, "How is your family? Are they well?"

"Yes...thank you."

Esme smiled warmly in response, "Of course."

Edward sighed and looked in to her eyes, "Bella, you shouldn't be here. It's not safe."

"But I wanted to see you," she said looking uncertain, "I mean I haven't seen anyone since the hospital. I don't know what's been going on."

"We should talk about that now," Alice said, "Now that everyone's here."

"Alice!" Edward hissed at her.

"It might be a good idea," Jasper said, "I mean we haven't really discussed...what's going to happen now."

"No, we haven't," the older daughter, Rosalie said.

One by one they all looked to Carlisle.

"What my family is saying is that, though we've told you about what you are now as a vampire, we haven't really talked at all about what you intend to do now," he explained, "Or what Bella will."

"I want to stay here," Bella jumped in, "I want to be here with you guys-"

"You can't! It isn't safe," Edward argued.

"I want to be with my dad!"

"Bella, he isn't your father anymore!"

The growl ripped through me before I even knew it was coming, "Who the hell do you think you are saying that?"

I saw Edward shove Bella behind him, and the others leaping up towards me, but I didn't care. All I could think about was wrapping my hands around his neck-

Suddenly, in an instant the world around me disappeared and pain ripped through my head...

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___There was almost no moon. It made keeping track of my footing more difficult, but I felt thankful for it just the same. The darkness allowed me to slip away unseen. The tree-line opened into a small, rundown croft that had obviously been abandoned for some time._

_I walked along the stone fence until it reached the remains of the house. Turning back toward the trees, I could see flames in the distance._

_This was supposed to be a demonstration of piety, man performing God's work and vanquishing evil. All I saw was ignorance and cruelty. _

_With sadness and shame, I watched for a few seconds before I felt a prickling sensation on the back of my neck._

_I turned toward it and saw a shadowy figure at the other edge of the house._

"_Who is there?" I asked with growing apprehension, "Show yourself!"_

_In an instant my feet left the ground, and I felt a crushing pain in my shoulder. A horse whinnied in the distance, and I was dropped to the ground._

_Dazed, I groped blindly at the wall in front of me, only to find that it was not a wall by the edge of a storage cellar. I fell the short distance to the bottom of it, and landed unceremoniously as fire began to consume me from the inside out._

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_Nighttime again. This time the moon was full. It was still dark enough to hide the sight of the battlefield, though, it really didn't make much difference._

_I could still feel the scorched earth beneath my feet, and smell the stench of gunpowder and death. _

_My musket and rucksack were heavy on my back. My entire body felt fatigued and weighed down. I forced myself to shuffle along, half-asleep on my feet when I was suddenly startled alert by an exquisite, dark-haired woman standing in my path._

_I did not think to wonder what she was doing out in the middle of a battlefield, I was too dazzled by her presence. She was the most beautiful creature I had ever seen, and, yet, at the same time, there was something so horribly intimidating about her that I trembled in her presence._

"_Separated from your company, Soldier?" she asked. Her voice was like whiskey. Smooth and fine, yet burned dangerously._

"_Y-yes, Ma'am," I stammered._

"_Things aren't going very well for your cause," she commented, "Are you afraid you may die?"_

"_Every moment," I answered, scarcely knowing what I was saying or that I'd even spoken._

_Her smile dripped with poison, "Allow me to cure you of your fear then."_

_With that she pulled me toward her, and sank her teeth into my neck _

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_The statue. The statue struck a sort of fear into me greater than any I'd ever felt._

_I was looking at for the first time, and yet I knew it so well. I'd seen it many times before. Over and over again._

_No! My mind screamed._

_No, no, no! I screamed in an endless loop._

_I did not wait for the feeling that I was being watched, instead I simply took off running. I made it only a few steps before I was knocked off my feet._

_I rolled painfully across the rough ground. Ignoring the scrapes and bruises, I struggled to my feet, tired to run again, and was again hit by some unseen force._

_I knew the effort was hopeless, but I tried once more. Dashing ahead blindly in the futile hope of escaping this nightmare._

_I ran ahead until my path ended with the brick siding of a building. I sobbed loudly. I was trapped...as always._

_A metal balcony above me rattled with a heavy impact. I turned toward it, but did not see what made the sound. Even now I could not see what was tormenting me._

_Trembling violently, I stepped back into the wall, and braced myself for what I could feel coming._

_I felt a rush of wind on my face a second before I was hit with unbearable, indescribable pain._

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_Cold._

_Cold and pain. An ache so deep it felt like it went all the way to my bones._

_I couldn't breathe, and it hurt so much to try._

_The doctor who had been caring for me stepped over to my bed._

"_Please," I begged him, "Please."_

_He wiped the tears from my eyes. His hands were cool, and felt wonderfully good even though I was shivering._

"_It's alright," he said, "I'm going to help you."_

_He leaned down to me and whispered in my ear, "I'm sorry."_

_I had no time to wonder what he meant, because less than an second afterward his mouth bit down on my shoulder._

_He turned away immediately, but his bite left behind fire that screamed through me and I could do nothing but scream with it._

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_I stared blankly at the wallpaper in our bedroom. It was faded, but tasteful. I had been so pleased with that fact when we first moved into this apartment._

_Now, I could hardly imagine ever feeling such meaningless pride at something like wallpaper._

_I pushed away the covers, got up from bed, and padded aimlessly through the halls. In the sitting room I caught sight of a small blanket draped over the rocking chair in the corner. I went over, plucked it up and ran my fingers over the stitches, remembering making them with my hands resting above where the life grew inside me._

_I did not cry. I hadn't been able to in a long time. I pressed the material to my lips and felt it's softness. It was all I could feel anymore._

_I dropped my arms and let the blanket fall to the floor. The sweet smell was barely there. Soon it would be gone entirely._

_I stared for I don't know how long out the balcony window. My feet were numb as I walked toward it, opened the doors with numb hands, and stepped out._

_I had to lift my nightgown out of the way to climb over the edge. Once outside the railing, I held on tight and leaned forward. My heart raced seeing the street below._

_I pulled myself back up right, closed my eyes. I slowly let go of the railing, lifted my arms out, and leaned until my feet could no longer grip the edge._

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_I looked at the filthy alley with disgust. _

"_Royce, what on Earth have you brought me here for?" I demanded._

"_You know very well what," he gripped my hips._

"_Royce!" I gasped, pushing his hands away. I turned to walk out of the revolting alley, but found two men standing at the entrance. They were well dressed, but, I did not feel I could call to them for help._

_Royce grasped me from behind. I tried squirm out of his grip, causing the two men to laugh._

"_You're right, Royce, she is beautiful," one leered. _

_As they came closer I recognized them. I had not met them personally, but I'd seen them talking with Royce before._

"_You stop this right now Royce King!" I said to him firmly._

_He spun me around, "Now don't pretend you don't want this, Rosie. You agreed to walk with me without a chaperon. What did you think would happen?"_

_I shook my head as he backed me into the wall behind me. I felt frozen as he shoved his body against me, and began pulling my skirts up._

"_No, no!" I screamed, but he clamped his hand over my mouth. He reached under my skirts, tearing at the fabric between us. I struggled, but he held me down. He shoved me harder into the wall forcing my legs apart, and pushed himself into me._

_The pain and the humiliation burned through me as I cried out into this hand. Feeling his skin underneath my tongue gave me an idea. I opened my mouth wider and sunk my teeth into his hand._

_He yelled and jerked away from me. I pushed off the wall and ran._

"_You whore!" He shouted as he caught up with me and threw me to the ground. In an instant all three where on top of me. Kicking every part of me with their shoes, or hitting me with whatever they picked up from the gutter. _

_I was too weak to fight at all when the second one raped me. My vision faded as the third stepped over, and the last thing I felt besides pain was him grasp my leg and pull me towards him._

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_I carefully dropped my supply kit to the ground, and was easing my rifle over my shoulder when the entire heard of deer suddenly startled and fled the clearing._

_I grimaced. I was almost certain I hadn't made any noise!_

_I bent to pick my kit back up, and when I stood I realized it wasn't me the deer had fled from. A grizzly bear stood not five feet from me._

_He roared loudly and began to charge. _

_I tried to aim my rifle, but there was not enough time. He knocked me to the ground, his weight crushing me, and closed his mouth over my face. _

_All that came next was a blur of teeth, nauseating smell, and pain._

_Garbled voices cut through the pain finally._

"_I've never asked you for anything, Carlisle! Not once! I even forgave you for condemning me to living this way! You owe me this!"_

_I tried to open my eyes, and, when I finally managed to, found myself looking into the face of an angel._

_She stroked my brow with her cool hand and said softly, "It'll be alright."_

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_I kept my eyes closed and took a deep breath. My heart beat heavily, but I did not feel afraid. I felt peaceful, loved._

_I moved my fingers to tangle in the hair at the base of his nape, so that I felt as he lowered his head to my neck._

___Even as the sting of the bite hit and the burning began, I felt safe deep down, and knew that where I was right now was the only place I'd want this to happen._

TBC...___  
_


End file.
